1 00:00:25,49 --> 00:00:29,56 What people picture Seattle is this gem of the Pacific Northwest with that you know 2 00:00:29,57 --> 00:00:34,33 the green the mountains and and you know all closeness to water and and just 3 00:00:34,34 --> 00:00:38,94 a beautiful city with the the Space Needle and the Seattle Center and all of our 4 00:00:38,95 --> 00:00:39,48 culture. 5 00:00:47,81 --> 00:00:53,21 But the fact is we also have one of the highest rates of juvenile prostitution 6 00:00:53,27 --> 00:00:58,24 where young girls and young boys are being sexually exploited up here people are 7 00:00:58,25 --> 00:01:03,56 killed where they just can't they can't believe that Seattle you know puta for 8 00:01:03,75 --> 00:01:05,74 Seattle would be 9 00:01:05,78 --> 00:01:11,22 a place where children be commercially sexually exploited and used the stories of 10 00:01:11,23 --> 00:01:16,17 these young people who get involved in prostitution sex trafficking really hasn't 11 00:01:16,18 --> 00:01:20,57 changed they are vulnerable in the same ways that they have always been they have 12 00:01:20,58 --> 00:01:26,58 nothing. They are groomed for prostitution long before they're ever actually. 13 00:01:27,61 --> 00:01:31,87 Been involved in under the control of the people the way that we've glamorized the 14 00:01:31,88 --> 00:01:35,04 commercial sex trade and you know we have the the pretty woman 15 00:01:35,05 --> 00:01:36,43 a fact people think that this is 16 00:01:36,44 --> 00:01:41,47 a nonviolent victimless crime and what we know is that it is profoundly violent and 17 00:01:41,48 --> 00:01:44,07 it really interrupts the developmental process of 18 00:01:44,08 --> 00:01:50,37 a thirteen or fourteen or an adolescent of any age you know when you look closely 19 00:01:50,38 --> 00:01:53,74 at the commercial sexual exploitation of minors you see 20 00:01:53,75 --> 00:01:57,49 a side of the community that most people don't ever want to see but when I was 21 00:01:57,53 --> 00:01:58,51 sixteen I had 22 00:01:58,52 --> 00:02:05,28 a child and had to leave my home eventually ended up meeting in somebody who I 23 00:02:05,29 --> 00:02:06,94 thought was really grade and have 24 00:02:06,95 --> 00:02:12,27 a nice car and had money and had all these ideas for me that you know there was 25 00:02:12,28 --> 00:02:15,86 a way they could make money and we. Began 26 00:02:15,87 --> 00:02:21,17 a relationship. And you know it's what I thought was my boyfriend and I'm he turned 27 00:02:21,18 --> 00:02:21,56 out to be 28 00:02:21,57 --> 00:02:28,93 a parent so that's how I got involved in. Prostitution you have the tricks 29 00:02:28,94 --> 00:02:33,21 that are raping you you have your pimp raping you if you're not bringing the right 30 00:02:33,22 --> 00:02:37,87 amount of money and you have your pimp that will allow other pimps to rape you to 31 00:02:37,88 --> 00:02:38,60 teach you 32 00:02:38,65 --> 00:02:43,36 a lesson so you have all these things that are going on with the girls and the 33 00:02:43,56 --> 00:02:48,99 youthful in a sense sparkle laughing it's not there you have to harden yourself 34 00:02:49,00 --> 00:02:52,03 a certain amount in order to stay involved in that lifestyle. 35 00:02:56,30 --> 00:02:58,90 It is very important for people to understand this is not 36 00:02:58,91 --> 00:03:03,74 a choice just because some young woman is given money that does not translate and 37 00:03:03,75 --> 00:03:08,64 to consent so these thirteen and fourteen year old young people are are facing 38 00:03:09,61 --> 00:03:16,58 addiction trauma sexual violence and car separation at extremely high rates I 39 00:03:16,59 --> 00:03:20,92 tried to leave several times and every time I tried to leave you would you know 40 00:03:21,15 --> 00:03:27,19 beat me up when he found me and you know threaten my child threaten his life do 41 00:03:27,20 --> 00:03:32,43 different things to keep me so that we had difficult to leave and then also once 42 00:03:32,44 --> 00:03:38,42 you do finally get away from your Him for you're the person who's exploiting you if 43 00:03:38,43 --> 00:03:42,52 you don't feel like there's anything else you can do and that's all you really know 44 00:03:42,53 --> 00:03:47,97 how to do and so I think that it's just really really hard to get out of the whole 45 00:03:47,98 --> 00:03:53,34 lifestyle because you're just you don't believe in yourself you don't believe you 46 00:03:53,35 --> 00:03:59,39 can do anything else with the girls go through and why they are running to the 47 00:03:59,40 --> 00:04:04,43 pimps is generally they're not running to something it's the running away from 48 00:04:04,44 --> 00:04:10,13 something you don't just get involved in prostitution without something maybe 49 00:04:10,14 --> 00:04:14,84 already else having happened you're willing to give more away because so much has 50 00:04:14,85 --> 00:04:19,68 already been taken from you. And that's what I see going on with you they've 51 00:04:19,69 --> 00:04:22,08 already been violated. 52 00:04:29,24 --> 00:04:33,85 There been some significant changes in trends and the last ten years the first is 53 00:04:33,86 --> 00:04:38,97 the change in technology which really allowed for 54 00:04:39,01 --> 00:04:44,69 a more anonymous and an easier way to access the commercial sex trade now they're 55 00:04:44,70 --> 00:04:50,40 not even on the sidewalk and they go straight from an anonymous online profile to 56 00:04:50,63 --> 00:04:56,93 someone's hotel room and it's harder for us to to catch them and our safety. It's 57 00:04:56,94 --> 00:05:00,47 still dangerous the you know the girl doesn't know who she's going to meet she 58 00:05:00,48 --> 00:05:07,37 doesn't know you know who this guy is but it takes it out of the public 59 00:05:07,45 --> 00:05:08,87 eye there's not 60 00:05:08,88 --> 00:05:12,72 a whole bunch of girls standing on the street now it's just you know 61 00:05:12,73 --> 00:05:19,53 a whole bunch of girls online. So you have your teenage 62 00:05:19,54 --> 00:05:24,01 daughters next door and that the pimps are looking for the looking for white girls 63 00:05:24,02 --> 00:05:27,41 Caucasian girls because they're going to make the most money we've worked with 64 00:05:27,42 --> 00:05:30,00 young people who were turned out and exploited by 65 00:05:30,01 --> 00:05:32,53 a gang when they were nine and ten years old it's 66 00:05:32,54 --> 00:05:37,81 a huge money making business and our gang members as well as our trip or nearly all 67 00:05:37,82 --> 00:05:43,20 perhaps are they stay see that and that they've they've learned that that's 68 00:05:43,21 --> 00:05:46,58 a way to make some quick money it's low risk for 69 00:05:46,62 --> 00:05:53,13 a high return the only way we can break this cycle. To stop the is to stop the 70 00:05:53,14 --> 00:05:58,91 demand in to prevent people from being able to buy women and children what's really 71 00:05:58,92 --> 00:06:03,14 unfair about this is that the criminal justice system and society at large 72 00:06:03,45 --> 00:06:08,74 participate in collusion in the unfair treatment of young people and individuals in 73 00:06:08,75 --> 00:06:12,91 the commercial sex trade these are kids they deserve our protection and they 74 00:06:12,92 --> 00:06:16,85 deserve our care they deserve respect and they deserve to have an equal playing. 75 00:06:16,92 --> 00:06:19,27 Field and to not be shamed and stigmatised 76 00:06:19,31 --> 00:06:23,86 a new approach to the violent camp who may have more than one young woman we've now 77 00:06:23,87 --> 00:06:28,81 can charge them with human trafficking control with sexual exploitation of minors 78 00:06:29,09 --> 00:06:31,21 and what used to be a six month sentence might be 79 00:06:31,22 --> 00:06:35,73 a ten to twenty year sentence we have tough laws now in place to go after the 80 00:06:35,74 --> 00:06:40,25 demands of sexual exploitation and I think words are important I don't call them 81 00:06:40,26 --> 00:06:44,36 Johns because I think that minimizes the danger that they are to the community 82 00:06:44,40 --> 00:06:48,93 these are men who exploit rent young girls for violence and sex. 83 00:06:52,44 --> 00:06:56,16 And we're battling for the hearts and minds of these young girls they may believe 84 00:06:56,17 --> 00:07:00,99 that they love their parent has brainwashed them into thinking that they may be you 85 00:07:01,00 --> 00:07:05,73 addicted to the allure of the streets we need to have something to offer them as an 86 00:07:05,74 --> 00:07:09,79 alternative what's so great about stolen youth is that everybody in this 87 00:07:09,80 --> 00:07:15,20 organization has made it their job to really understand this problem they 88 00:07:15,21 --> 00:07:19,98 understand what it takes they're really going to be there for the long haul what 89 00:07:19,99 --> 00:07:25,17 you need to get out of the life is comprehensive services that include safe housing 90 00:07:25,21 --> 00:07:30,27 education and case management and point is really important so that they you know 91 00:07:30,28 --> 00:07:35,20 have other economic strategies they need caring non-judgmental and compassionate 92 00:07:35,21 --> 00:07:39,47 people we've tried to provide all of this a youth care's bridge program and be 93 00:07:39,48 --> 00:07:43,85 a model to other programs and agencies across the country but in the end of the day 94 00:07:43,86 --> 00:07:49,37 what we really need is support for programs such as these and public awareness so 95 00:07:49,38 --> 00:07:53,51 we can take the example of the bridge program I think we need to expand it in age 96 00:07:53,72 --> 00:07:57,23 and to do expand the services we need to offer it to young women who are being 97 00:07:57,24 --> 00:07:58,26 exploited as 98 00:07:58,27 --> 00:08:02,66 a real alternative to get away from the violent pimp and the violent exporters of 99 00:08:02,67 --> 00:08:03,99 the street and into 100 00:08:04,00 --> 00:08:09,09 a brighter future together I think we can that. There needs to be money available 101 00:08:09,10 --> 00:08:14,45 to do it. That's the hope is that somebody would care enough about me to put money 102 00:08:14,46 --> 00:08:19,35 toward my future that's what I. For them to somebody to care. 103 00:08:25,43 --> 00:08:31,34 I really really hope that there are enough resources for these women and girls my 104 00:08:31,35 --> 00:08:34,57 hope is that we as 105 00:08:34,58 --> 00:08:38,81 a society and as families and communities are working together to end the next 106 00:08:38,82 --> 00:08:41,89 generation of demand so I hope that we can develop 107 00:08:41,90 --> 00:08:48,39 a culture in the north west where sexual exploitation of youth is not only on 108 00:08:48,40 --> 00:08:54,73 acceptable. My hope is that men will stop buying women and children 109 00:08:55,71 --> 00:09:01,83 my hope is that decent men will confront and stand up against those men who do and 110 00:09:01,84 --> 00:09:03,04 not be bystanders 111 00:09:03,38 --> 00:09:09,22 a lot of times we turn away from things because our mental emotionally is too 112 00:09:09,23 --> 00:09:13,96 difficult to look at and your psyche can even begin so instead of helping in 113 00:09:13,97 --> 00:09:17,93 reaching out and stopping would just turn to look the other way and act like things 114 00:09:17,94 --> 00:09:23,43 are happening and we can see things right in front of our face and maybe because 115 00:09:23,44 --> 00:09:28,93 it's not in our own home in our own backyard in it's them. And sometimes we don't 116 00:09:28,94 --> 00:09:35,82 care enough to help. Just hoping. Hoping what I'm saying that somebody 117 00:09:35,83 --> 00:09:38,10 will. Care enough to help. 118 00:09:50,13 --> 00:09:56,96 My name is Patty Fleishman I'm the president and co-founder of stolen you. Were 119 00:09:56,97 --> 00:10:02,22 nonprofit organization raising funds and awareness to support the rescue and 120 00:10:02,24 --> 00:10:08,77 recovery of our section here in Seattle. Three years ago 121 00:10:08,85 --> 00:10:11,81 a group of women and I supported 122 00:10:11,82 --> 00:10:17,34 a film called. About the international issue of sex trafficking. 123 00:10:19,02 --> 00:10:25,99 We came actually to the town hall meeting similar to this to find 124 00:10:26,00 --> 00:10:30,77 out more about what was happening in our own backyard and we were shocked and 125 00:10:30,78 --> 00:10:37,38 horrified to hear the numbers the trauma these kids experience night after night. 126 00:10:38,80 --> 00:10:43,35 On a daily basis and we were determined and inspired to make 127 00:10:43,36 --> 00:10:50,28 a change we gathered twelve amazing women who are as passionate and committed as we 128 00:10:50,29 --> 00:10:54,15 were and formed a nonprofit to make 129 00:10:54,16 --> 00:11:00,36 a difference in our community and that's how stolen you started just from this 130 00:11:00,37 --> 00:11:02,98 movie to an idea of how we can make 131 00:11:02,99 --> 00:11:09,19 a difference here in our own community and that's why we're here today three years 132 00:11:09,20 --> 00:11:15,54 later we are proud to talk about what this city and state have 133 00:11:15,55 --> 00:11:22,32 accomplished in such a short period of time amazing things we have created 134 00:11:22,33 --> 00:11:28,64 a comprehensive mall tie systemic approach to provide services directly to the 135 00:11:28,65 --> 00:11:34,98 victims we have created the systemic change that's needed to shift the focus 136 00:11:35,49 --> 00:11:35,79 to 137 00:11:35,83 --> 00:11:42,71 a victim centered approach we are changing policy putting 138 00:11:42,72 --> 00:11:48,50 survivors in position of leadership and breaking through the denial of our 139 00:11:48,51 --> 00:11:54,93 community that this horrific crime actually happens in our own backyard 140 00:11:56,09 --> 00:12:02,89 I'm beginning my third year court judge in my first week I saw 141 00:12:02,93 --> 00:12:07,04 a beautiful articulate fourteen year old girl charged with 142 00:12:07,05 --> 00:12:12,61 a misdemeanor. Her mother abandoned the father and for children when this child was 143 00:12:12,62 --> 00:12:18,96 four I won't describe the thing things this child endured at the hands of her 144 00:12:18,97 --> 00:12:24,13 father and others but she died in prison while serving 145 00:12:24,14 --> 00:12:29,23 a sentence for sex crimes against children like most of the exploited foster 146 00:12:29,24 --> 00:12:35,53 children I see and many of them are foster children she ran from every placement 147 00:12:35,58 --> 00:12:40,49 used every drug she could get her hands on ended up in emergency rooms with alcohol 148 00:12:40,50 --> 00:12:47,42 poison and overdoses these children all of them are trafficked they are used and 149 00:12:47,43 --> 00:12:52,95 abused by multiple men and boys sometimes fathers and sons sometimes they are 150 00:12:52,96 --> 00:12:57,94 trafficked across the country sometimes they are forcefully and checked in with 151 00:12:57,95 --> 00:13:04,20 drugs sometimes these children pimp other children after trying services in the 152 00:13:04,21 --> 00:13:10,81 community for this fourteen year old girl unsuccessfully I sent her to JR A on 153 00:13:10,85 --> 00:13:15,41 a an exceptional sentence above the standard sentencing range because I was afraid 154 00:13:15,42 --> 00:13:21,85 she would die on the street if I didn't. Every time I saw her then and I'm seeing 155 00:13:21,86 --> 00:13:27,45 her again because she's back I wondered what if could we have changed the 156 00:13:27,46 --> 00:13:34,42 trajectory of this child's life if we had been more aware if we had been more 157 00:13:34,43 --> 00:13:40,08 aware sooner if we had been able to coordinate services if we could have found 158 00:13:40,09 --> 00:13:46,74 stable and secure placement for this child I now see Sec children 159 00:13:47,34 --> 00:13:51,57 every week often every day sometimes three or four 160 00:13:51,61 --> 00:13:58,47 a day some are in gangs some runaways some working online many are 161 00:13:58,48 --> 00:14:02,89 foster children some are trafficked by their families 162 00:14:03,15 --> 00:14:09,72 a majority are children of color and not all of them are girls most suffer from 163 00:14:09,73 --> 00:14:16,50 years of complex trauma these children end up at our expense in emergency 164 00:14:16,51 --> 00:14:22,33 rooms in clinics they have babies at thirteen fourteen and fifteen they steal 165 00:14:22,34 --> 00:14:27,93 because their pimps withhold money for food or clothes they assault people out of 166 00:14:27,94 --> 00:14:34,53 anger they suffer from post traumatic stress and they use drugs to mask the pain of 167 00:14:34,54 --> 00:14:41,39 the abuse they suffer the King County you see Sec task force which I chair. Which 168 00:14:41,40 --> 00:14:47,81 had its kick us meeting last spring is well underway thanks to justice bridge and C 169 00:14:47,82 --> 00:14:49,46 C U I J for developing 170 00:14:49,47 --> 00:14:55,56 a statewide protocol and beginning this effort and just stolen youth which gave us 171 00:14:55,57 --> 00:14:59,39 an initial part time funding in the fall for 172 00:14:59,40 --> 00:15:04,35 a task force coordinator we're grateful to the county council for continued funding 173 00:15:04,36 --> 00:15:09,20 for that position but I really want to tell you about what the task force is doing 174 00:15:09,39 --> 00:15:15,78 we have lots of moving parts and great momentum we are working in partnership with 175 00:15:15,79 --> 00:15:21,15 the police with schools with child welfare with hospitals probation counselors 176 00:15:21,16 --> 00:15:26,97 juvenile detention prosecutors defense counsel service providers shelters 177 00:15:27,10 --> 00:15:32,89 businesses with anyone who might come in contact with these children anywhere we 178 00:15:32,90 --> 00:15:38,28 are training our partners on how to identify these children as early as possible 179 00:15:38,83 --> 00:15:43,93 and about what to do once identified regardless of how 180 00:15:43,94 --> 00:15:50,26 a child is identified an advocate is called through our line and respond 181 00:15:50,52 --> 00:15:56,86 immediately the response after that depends on the situation crisis response 182 00:15:56,87 --> 00:16:03,04 addresses immediate safety medical attention and housing needs multi-disciplinary 183 00:16:03,08 --> 00:16:09,39 teams work together with the child and the child's family where appropriate to 184 00:16:09,40 --> 00:16:15,95 identify long term needs of the child and to provide services counseling education 185 00:16:16,24 --> 00:16:21,92 substance abuse treatment family support and placement if necessary the make up of 186 00:16:21,93 --> 00:16:28,74 these teams. Is completely individual eyes and depends entirely on the child's 187 00:16:28,75 --> 00:16:34,87 needs we have train about one hundred twenty people from these diverse 188 00:16:34,88 --> 00:16:40,87 agencies and have several more training scheduled and will keep scheduling them as 189 00:16:40,88 --> 00:16:46,49 a result of those trainings in three months we had about forty referrals for sea 190 00:16:46,50 --> 00:16:53,16 sick children who are now getting services all thirty nine police departments in 191 00:16:53,17 --> 00:16:58,56 King County are involved and all see these children as victims that is 192 00:16:58,60 --> 00:17:05,38 a shame. Three of. Last 193 00:17:05,39 --> 00:17:05,78 week 194 00:17:06,67 --> 00:17:12,49 a detective who had been through our task force training e-mail Kelly our 195 00:17:12,50 --> 00:17:17,80 coordinator said he was in the middle of an investigation and would probably be 196 00:17:17,81 --> 00:17:19,71 arresting a sixteen year old on 197 00:17:19,72 --> 00:17:26,47 a serious charge but she was being pimped she was being trafficked and he wanted an 198 00:17:26,48 --> 00:17:29,34 advocate for her now that is 199 00:17:29,35 --> 00:17:35,86 a sea change and our multi-disciplinary approach will work here's what 200 00:17:35,87 --> 00:17:42,82 success looks like. Friday this past Friday I had an exploited youth before me 201 00:17:43,05 --> 00:17:49,86 in court who had been in the system for several years she appeared in court 202 00:17:49,99 --> 00:17:50,24 with 203 00:17:50,25 --> 00:17:57,33 a roomful of probation counselors service providers and community support with 204 00:17:57,34 --> 00:18:03,67 help she had found the inner resources to get out of the life and at the 205 00:18:03,68 --> 00:18:09,33 request of her probation counselor I dismissed her suspended J. 206 00:18:09,34 --> 00:18:10,26 Already that means 207 00:18:10,27 --> 00:18:16,15 a long time sentence and terminated her supervision early she wrote me 208 00:18:16,40 --> 00:18:21,73 a beautiful letter describing her transformation she told me she was standing 209 00:18:21,74 --> 00:18:22,41 before me 210 00:18:22,56 --> 00:18:29,26 a different person was engaged with the Genesis Project had gotten her GED completed 211 00:18:29,27 --> 00:18:35,75 family counseling she had completed an internship and importantly she was 212 00:18:35,79 --> 00:18:42,17 clean and sober she said I want my child to know me 213 00:18:42,45 --> 00:18:49,29 as this wonderful woman I am today that's hard working goal oriented 214 00:18:49,37 --> 00:18:55,74 and the true achiever she is and that is success we 215 00:18:55,78 --> 00:19:02,78 expect to continue it thank you. Thankfully thanks to what you just heard 216 00:19:02,79 --> 00:19:04,20 from Judge Mack you know 217 00:19:04,21 --> 00:19:08,88 a little bit already about this project it's been my privilege to really begin to 218 00:19:08,92 --> 00:19:14,80 work on this issue and Terry Kimball also savvy and my office at City and is 219 00:19:14,81 --> 00:19:17,93 a wonderful way of operating for 220 00:19:18,45 --> 00:19:24,43 a Ford for justice and we have been privileged to have Terry Campbell lead the C C 221 00:19:24,44 --> 00:19:29,47 Y J project respect as it is called in house the product of which was in Washington 222 00:19:29,48 --> 00:19:36,41 state model protocol for commercially sexually exploited children the with our 223 00:19:36,42 --> 00:19:40,89 partner youth care. And you can hear from Melinda from new care and Lesley Bryner 224 00:19:40,90 --> 00:19:45,10 whom you saw on the video. We launched 225 00:19:45,14 --> 00:19:50,06 a unique process and scope in order to form 226 00:19:50,07 --> 00:19:53,88 a eight in order to improve our response to commercially sexually exploited 227 00:19:53,89 --> 00:19:58,82 children throughout the state of Washington our expanse was broad We started in 228 00:19:58,83 --> 00:20:05,32 Spokane in Napa ma tri cities came across to the I five corridor and met with 229 00:20:05,38 --> 00:20:10,82 multi-system multi-discipline numbers of people from every community who were 230 00:20:10,83 --> 00:20:17,02 combined in their in their desire to do something about the incidence of 231 00:20:17,03 --> 00:20:22,54 commercially sexually exploited children in their communities they were committed 232 00:20:22,55 --> 00:20:26,70 to collaborating and coordinating in order to improve their processes to learn 233 00:20:26,71 --> 00:20:31,51 whatever they could about really identify cation these children and to learn about 234 00:20:31,52 --> 00:20:36,41 what were best practices what could work to really resolve and change these lives 235 00:20:36,42 --> 00:20:41,63 to save these kids so the focus of this project then as these groups were meeting 236 00:20:42,03 --> 00:20:48,46 was also to be supplemented and absolutely so by the voices of the survivors 237 00:20:48,47 --> 00:20:48,97 themselves 238 00:20:48,98 --> 00:20:54,54 a critical component of the focus is that they've done the key components of the of 239 00:20:54,55 --> 00:21:00,90 the protocol itself our identification how to do it and the tools to 240 00:21:00,91 --> 00:21:03,17 proceed to provide 241 00:21:03,18 --> 00:21:09,30 a ordinated and collaborative response to provide safety to improve outcomes to be 242 00:21:09,31 --> 00:21:15,40 data driven to test ourselves over and over again is what we're doing is it I know 243 00:21:15,41 --> 00:21:19,05 it's making us feel good but is it really working is it really responding to the 244 00:21:19,06 --> 00:21:25,50 needs of these kids and to hold the exploiters accountable we met with judges 245 00:21:25,67 --> 00:21:30,37 detention workers juvenile court administrators prosecutors defense counsel service 246 00:21:30,38 --> 00:21:36,40 providers advocates educators law enforcement and child welfare personnel. The the 247 00:21:36,41 --> 00:21:41,31 for the protocol. Then incorporates two major components the first is as 248 00:21:41,43 --> 00:21:45,12 recommendations about governance you heard Judge Mack describe 249 00:21:45,13 --> 00:21:47,67 a multi disciplinary teams that are launched on 250 00:21:47,68 --> 00:21:52,87 a case by case basis to intervene in these lives. We recommend that there then be 251 00:21:52,88 --> 00:21:57,46 a task force as as here has been established in King County the task force to 252 00:21:57,89 --> 00:22:02,08 oversee these multidisciplinary teams to look at what they are doing to provide 253 00:22:02,25 --> 00:22:04,00 structure to provide 254 00:22:04,01 --> 00:22:09,66 a forum for the people that are from all of these walks of life to meet and discuss 255 00:22:09,67 --> 00:22:13,22 the issues that are occurring systemically and lastly 256 00:22:13,23 --> 00:22:17,74 a statewide coordinating committee that will hear of the work that's going on and 257 00:22:17,75 --> 00:22:21,57 really look at state law and fractals and how that might be changed to enforce the 258 00:22:21,58 --> 00:22:26,73 good work that and to add resources to that good work throughout the state twenty 259 00:22:26,74 --> 00:22:29,46 five years ago I had the privilege of running 260 00:22:29,47 --> 00:22:33,66 a program called threshold that you care which designed to help young people exit 261 00:22:33,67 --> 00:22:37,90 street life from prostitution I was real I was reading that material today going 262 00:22:37,91 --> 00:22:43,55 through our fortieth anniversary materials and it was so struck by how successful 263 00:22:43,56 --> 00:22:48,62 that program was and so saddened by the fact that it closed down as soon as the 264 00:22:48,63 --> 00:22:54,48 federal funding went away when I came back to youth care seven years ago I got 265 00:22:54,49 --> 00:23:00,16 a call about a young woman who had been discarded out of her out of 266 00:23:00,17 --> 00:23:05,19 a car maybe she was overdosed maybe she overdosed but she'd been thrown in an 267 00:23:05,79 --> 00:23:08,48 orchard and Yakima and burned like 268 00:23:08,49 --> 00:23:15,40 a pile of trash. No one knew who she was. Took months months months to 269 00:23:15,41 --> 00:23:21,38 identify or. There's no funeral there was no newspaper article there was nothing 270 00:23:21,39 --> 00:23:24,87 they just want to know somebody never heard of this kid nobody wanted to take the 271 00:23:24,88 --> 00:23:30,71 case not yakka mom not Seattle the main knew who she belonged to. And then I looked 272 00:23:30,72 --> 00:23:34,05 inside my own organization again and I realized that after twenty two years there 273 00:23:34,06 --> 00:23:40,87 was one person still working to an award quietly in detention to keep these 274 00:23:40,88 --> 00:23:46,16 young people connected to some kind of services. It was at that moment when I was 275 00:23:46,17 --> 00:23:50,98 on my way home actually to iron my son shirt that I realized that we could not give 276 00:23:50,99 --> 00:23:56,23 up the fight and so you care having been founded by finding a young woman behind 277 00:23:56,24 --> 00:24:03,12 a church in Shoreline overdosed and pimped out. Twenty now thirty five years 278 00:24:03,13 --> 00:24:07,96 later was going to return to this mission and so what we did was begin to develop 279 00:24:07,97 --> 00:24:08,72 partners and there's 280 00:24:08,73 --> 00:24:13,12 a number of things at that have changed in those twenty five years one is that we 281 00:24:13,13 --> 00:24:17,20 started over and Dr Boyd you could give you the speech today and she gave me twenty 282 00:24:17,21 --> 00:24:22,49 five years ago. That we started over but this time we couldn't do it alone we could 283 00:24:22,50 --> 00:24:26,87 have an isolated program to get an isolated child we had to do it with this 284 00:24:26,88 --> 00:24:31,44 community and through the help of the partners of stolen youth the leadership of 285 00:24:31,45 --> 00:24:35,60 Justice bridge and justice Mack and Tim Burgess and Terry Campbell and Betsy Graf 286 00:24:35,61 --> 00:24:42,03 and Kelly Carol and Leon mosse we are no longer alone today three years later 287 00:24:42,04 --> 00:24:42,21 there's 288 00:24:42,22 --> 00:24:48,45 a few things we know one is that we must always keep victim as victim centered that 289 00:24:48,46 --> 00:24:53,02 we can develop all the models we want we can develop all the boxes and draw all the 290 00:24:53,03 --> 00:24:57,38 cartoons and figure out where people should go and if we are not meeting the needs 291 00:24:57,39 --> 00:25:02,61 of the young people we have failed and so we must start again and try over and was 292 00:25:02,62 --> 00:25:06,40 keep trying to each child has what they need when they need it and how they needed 293 00:25:06,65 --> 00:25:11,03 today my partners Auburn youth resources and friends of youth Joining me around 294 00:25:11,04 --> 00:25:15,12 this community and being able to provide twenty four seven emergency housing for 295 00:25:15,13 --> 00:25:18,55 any child picked up anywhere in King County in need of 296 00:25:18,56 --> 00:25:22,78 a safe place to go that night as we begin the process to bring those young people 297 00:25:22,79 --> 00:25:29,04 off the streets we now have partners safe place picking kids up off buses 298 00:25:29,77 --> 00:25:34,61 to make sure that if you walk out because you hate broccoli you don't end up on the 299 00:25:34,62 --> 00:25:35,24 back side of 300 00:25:35,25 --> 00:25:39,84 a motel room two days later so we're there and hoping to try to rescue these 301 00:25:39,85 --> 00:25:43,25 children before they hit the streets and take them off when they get off the 302 00:25:43,26 --> 00:25:46,54 streets I'm a full. Time police officer investigator but I spend 303 00:25:46,55 --> 00:25:51,77 a majority of my time out on awareness campaigns like this. Little bit about me 304 00:25:51,78 --> 00:25:55,67 I've been doing this for one thousand years start out in the mid ninety's like 305 00:25:55,68 --> 00:26:01,10 a lot of officers young officers all I cared about was looking good in my uniform. 306 00:26:03,79 --> 00:26:04,08 I had 307 00:26:04,09 --> 00:26:08,55 a sea change probably about five six years ago I was ordered by my department to 308 00:26:08,56 --> 00:26:11,94 start looking into prostitution because of budget cutbacks 309 00:26:11,95 --> 00:26:17,02 a lot of agencies went through. I was a little upset by that incident myself 310 00:26:17,03 --> 00:26:22,26 a felony cop didn't want to deal with Mr minors but I only looked at it as. A 311 00:26:22,27 --> 00:26:24,38 misdemeanor crime these girls were making 312 00:26:24,39 --> 00:26:29,12 a choice to be out there one thing I started noticing as we started rounding them 313 00:26:29,13 --> 00:26:34,64 up in those first few weeks is it was different than it was when I first started I 314 00:26:34,65 --> 00:26:35,26 started seeing 315 00:26:35,27 --> 00:26:40,26 a lot of young girls out there girls my daughter's age I'm the father of three. 316 00:26:41,66 --> 00:26:47,93 Girls So it really touched me so I did something that I never thought about I 317 00:26:47,94 --> 00:26:52,07 started talking to him I started figuring out that they were out there on their own 318 00:26:52,56 --> 00:26:57,59 out there on out of their own accord vast majority of them were being exploited or 319 00:26:57,60 --> 00:27:02,92 tricked into coming out there and I got angry couldn't find much support in my 320 00:27:02,93 --> 00:27:08,68 department back in those days but so I took it upon myself to educate myself start 321 00:27:08,69 --> 00:27:12,46 talking to these girls start getting and making partnerships with different 322 00:27:12,47 --> 00:27:18,19 organizations such as Melinda judges. Burgess 323 00:27:18,98 --> 00:27:25,79 organization. Realizing that just. Talking to these 324 00:27:25,80 --> 00:27:27,25 girls trying to force them to give me 325 00:27:27,26 --> 00:27:33,17 a statement against their pimps it wasn't enough. So I jumped on board real early 326 00:27:33,18 --> 00:27:37,41 being part of some of these task forces with Victim Center and what I found I'm 327 00:27:37,42 --> 00:27:40,71 able to do my job better that way. I don't force 328 00:27:40,72 --> 00:27:46,54 a girl once I come in contact with these young ladies which I do every day in my 329 00:27:46,55 --> 00:27:49,47 professional career is not about give me 330 00:27:49,48 --> 00:27:54,45 a statement like to put your pen from prison yes I'm an investigator I want to put 331 00:27:54,46 --> 00:28:01,43 them in prison but it's about the young lady OK if I it's gone from wanting to put 332 00:28:01,44 --> 00:28:03,42 their prim from prison to if I could get her to 333 00:28:03,43 --> 00:28:09,26 a safe place to the right help to the right people to put her life back on track to 334 00:28:09,27 --> 00:28:16,07 the professionals. I don't really care about the pound OK I care about her and 335 00:28:16,08 --> 00:28:22,80 that's what victim centered mean to me. So I watch them try to let them know you 336 00:28:22,81 --> 00:28:28,03 know I care about them what do they need Are you hungry What do you need what can I 337 00:28:28,04 --> 00:28:33,64 do for you given them their power back OK because I come to realize 338 00:28:33,71 --> 00:28:40,36 a lot of like. The judge mentioned they come from horrific circumstances government 339 00:28:40,42 --> 00:28:47,38 record. Meant something negative to them growing up. Police is on the front line of 340 00:28:47,39 --> 00:28:52,18 government come in and they're taking mommy or daddy away to jail OK so I can't 341 00:28:52,19 --> 00:28:57,73 come at these young ladies as a police officer have to come out after them as 342 00:28:57,74 --> 00:29:03,04 a father. Amelle I just cares about and I happen to be 343 00:29:03,05 --> 00:29:09,92 a police officer and it hasn't worked. So now I get calls from young ladies that I 344 00:29:09,93 --> 00:29:13,00 have been able to rescue have stayed out of you know I wish him 345 00:29:13,01 --> 00:29:14,79 a Merry Christmas send him 346 00:29:14,80 --> 00:29:19,47 a Facebook post thank to me or some of the most caring folks that have ever met in 347 00:29:19,48 --> 00:29:24,75 my life and that has made me more satisfied in doing my job thank you thank you 348 00:29:24,79 --> 00:29:31,24 Detective. Justice bridge the state Y C SEC Coordinating 349 00:29:31,30 --> 00:29:35,68 Committee is important we've heard about that tonight could you explain just 350 00:29:35,69 --> 00:29:41,66 a little bit about what is happening across our state and what you hope will come 351 00:29:41,67 --> 00:29:47,98 of this effort. Well we now have our pilot in the process of piloting this protocol 352 00:29:47,99 --> 00:29:51,19 that I described to you which is fundamentally 353 00:29:51,20 --> 00:29:57,46 a model it does it sets out these recommendations for governance that I just told 354 00:29:57,47 --> 00:30:02,33 you about a few moments ago and also identify some breast best practices which is 355 00:30:02,46 --> 00:30:07,46 a key component of which obviously is to is to have better tools of identification 356 00:30:08,03 --> 00:30:13,38 also to have better data collection so that we really know where these kids are 357 00:30:13,39 --> 00:30:19,86 coming from what is what they do need what resources are available what resources 358 00:30:19,87 --> 00:30:24,25 can be shared and what resources we don't have in need so data collection is 359 00:30:24,26 --> 00:30:29,85 clearly part of it the we have five sites now around the state King County being 360 00:30:29,86 --> 00:30:36,17 one where task forces are now underway formulating their own work product and 361 00:30:36,18 --> 00:30:38,28 entering in their own protocols using ours as 362 00:30:38,29 --> 00:30:42,96 a framework they are going to review it be reporting their work and their data 363 00:30:42,97 --> 00:30:47,74 collection efforts to this statewide Coordinating Committee and it's the state wide 364 00:30:47,75 --> 00:30:50,55 through the state wide court and in committee that we really hope to get the kind 365 00:30:50,56 --> 00:30:56,51 of policy change and new new whatever new legislation may be necessary and more 366 00:30:56,52 --> 00:31:02,94 importantly more community awareness about the reasons why we need to invest in 367 00:31:02,95 --> 00:31:08,19 these young people because they are our young people and that's that's what we hope 368 00:31:08,20 --> 00:31:14,22 to see out of that meeting maybe you learn that these young people need what all 369 00:31:14,23 --> 00:31:15,75 young people need they need 370 00:31:15,76 --> 00:31:22,55 a safe place to be they need caring adults they need access to goods safe 371 00:31:22,56 --> 00:31:26,91 developmentally appropriate housing whatever that means they need emergency help 372 00:31:26,95 --> 00:31:28,78 you can't wait till tomorrow to give them 373 00:31:28,79 --> 00:31:32,69 a place to sleep they have to be able to come in now and then we can figure it out 374 00:31:33,28 --> 00:31:37,73 they need opportunities to go back to school they need opportunities to become part 375 00:31:37,74 --> 00:31:43,06 of an adolescent community even with all the adult lessons that they have learned 376 00:31:43,29 --> 00:31:45,36 and they need. Opportunities to learn about being 377 00:31:45,66 --> 00:31:52,41 a self efficient South Africa's see self-sufficient talented young people through 378 00:31:52,45 --> 00:31:56,54 education and employment and job training programs in our community they need 379 00:31:56,55 --> 00:32:00,46 opportunities to get back they need community service and most importantly they 380 00:32:00,47 --> 00:32:05,45 need to know that the services have to be focused on trauma these young people have 381 00:32:05,46 --> 00:32:09,50 been through more than most of us would ever even imagine in our lives so no matter 382 00:32:09,51 --> 00:32:13,53 what you do all of your staff have to be trained in trauma and you have to have the 383 00:32:13,54 --> 00:32:18,21 right fit for the right child you can't just put there's no cookie cutter approach 384 00:32:18,71 --> 00:32:23,34 and first and foremost and I say this because even when I speak around the country 385 00:32:23,55 --> 00:32:29,43 if you have nothing else you have to have an advocate in the community that when 386 00:32:29,44 --> 00:32:34,80 that child needs you you will respond and so if any scheme unit is starting this 387 00:32:34,81 --> 00:32:38,68 program they have to start with the community advocates the pimp is there for the 388 00:32:38,69 --> 00:32:43,32 emergency food and clothing we need to be there for the same thing when you're 389 00:32:43,33 --> 00:32:48,34 scared you need to have somebody call and when you call you have to pick up and 390 00:32:48,35 --> 00:32:52,60 those advocates become the lifelines of these young people and they run and they 391 00:32:52,61 --> 00:32:57,21 take off and they're angry and you cannot bear to see the pain that they go through 392 00:32:57,22 --> 00:33:02,12 time and time again but if they have that lifeline more times out of not they will 393 00:33:02,22 --> 00:33:07,14 end up on the right path moving forward and that's where we must start I got you 394 00:33:07,15 --> 00:33:11,85 know from a pastor who e-mail said The sits at our church they're working with 395 00:33:11,86 --> 00:33:12,79 a young woman who is in 396 00:33:12,80 --> 00:33:17,62 a recovery program and has been sober for seven months she's desperately trying to 397 00:33:17,63 --> 00:33:20,74 get her life together but needing some housing so she can get 398 00:33:20,75 --> 00:33:25,70 a job and move forward getting into school do you know of any programs can you help 399 00:33:25,71 --> 00:33:31,53 us the pastor tried to access numerous programs here in our area it was told that 400 00:33:31,54 --> 00:33:37,31 the woman was either too old for services or the beds were too full. So this just 401 00:33:37,32 --> 00:33:41,90 shows that we still need more services and we especially need services for adults. 402 00:33:42,67 --> 00:33:47,57 But unless we do something about prevention we will always have we will never have 403 00:33:47,58 --> 00:33:52,25 enough services we will always have more needed than there are services so we need 404 00:33:52,26 --> 00:33:57,09 to figure out how to prevent that crime and that's what best is trying to do along 405 00:33:57,10 --> 00:34:00,09 with many others we want to work to create 406 00:34:00,10 --> 00:34:05,48 a community and which women and children are no longer trafficked and if we hit if 407 00:34:05,49 --> 00:34:07,56 they are trafficked we want to start finding them 408 00:34:07,57 --> 00:34:10,61 a lot sooner and having our community begin to identify them 409 00:34:10,62 --> 00:34:15,48 a lot sooner before they self medicate with drugs or alcohol or get into other 410 00:34:15,49 --> 00:34:21,78 sorts of harm and we want to find them safe jobs so they won't be forced to reenter 411 00:34:21,79 --> 00:34:25,71 this trauma because they can't find other opportunities and so that's where 412 00:34:25,72 --> 00:34:31,30 businesses come in businesses as you know provide jobs so we are partnering with 413 00:34:31,34 --> 00:34:36,13 ops and goodwill to begin to provide new job training opportunities for adult 414 00:34:36,14 --> 00:34:41,01 survivors and best seeking businesses that are willing to hire people who are 415 00:34:41,27 --> 00:34:46,95 either at risk or survivors of trafficking businesses can also help us to identify 416 00:34:46,96 --> 00:34:49,74 these kids sooner get them connected with services 417 00:34:50,13 --> 00:34:52,97 a lot of these kids have dropped out of the normal systems that they were in they 418 00:34:52,98 --> 00:34:56,22 dropped out of school they're not living at home and they're without social 419 00:34:56,23 --> 00:35:01,22 services but you know where they are they're in hotels and motels we did 420 00:35:01,23 --> 00:35:06,16 a study here in King County of trafficking related cases that in prosecute between 421 00:35:06,17 --> 00:35:09,28 two thousand and eight and two thousand and twelve and we found that sixty three 422 00:35:09,29 --> 00:35:13,83 percent of those cases involve hotels and motels and they weren't just the motels 423 00:35:14,60 --> 00:35:19,95 that you would maybe think this was anywhere from those economy motels to business 424 00:35:20,40 --> 00:35:26,81 you know median income you know hotels two luxury hotels in the heart of downtown 425 00:35:26,82 --> 00:35:30,49 Seattle in Bellevue one general manager of 426 00:35:30,50 --> 00:35:35,62 a hotel which we all are very familiar with. I found out from law enforcement that 427 00:35:35,63 --> 00:35:38,49 his hotel was actually being advertised online as 428 00:35:38,50 --> 00:35:42,41 a place where girls were being prostituted and pimped out it was 429 00:35:42,42 --> 00:35:47,57 a shock to him first to learn that kids are being prostituted in Seattle and second 430 00:35:47,62 --> 00:35:53,37 to learn that there were this was happening in his own hotel so he cooperated with 431 00:35:53,38 --> 00:35:53,96 police they did 432 00:35:53,97 --> 00:35:58,08 a sting investigation sting operation and then he helped best lead our first 433 00:35:58,09 --> 00:36:03,91 project hearing team County to begin to train to create best practices and begin 434 00:36:03,92 --> 00:36:08,10 training his peers he told us a room of his peers 435 00:36:08,11 --> 00:36:11,27 a couple months ago that he had trained a staff and he had seen 436 00:36:11,28 --> 00:36:16,43 a dramatic decrease in the prevalence of trafficking in his hotel the word on the 437 00:36:16,44 --> 00:36:22,01 street is now that the hotel is working with law enforcement so his hotel has gone 438 00:36:22,02 --> 00:36:26,84 from unknowingly facilitating trafficking to being inhospitable to trafficking 439 00:36:27,77 --> 00:36:30,05 which we're really excited about so this is 440 00:36:30,06 --> 00:36:34,80 a perfect example of prevention and what best is trying to do with traffickers 441 00:36:34,81 --> 00:36:39,88 using businesses to fund and facilitate their crimes while businesses like hotels 442 00:36:40,49 --> 00:36:44,95 when they're educated and they take action they can get victims connected with 443 00:36:44,96 --> 00:36:49,27 services much more quickly but they can also prevent victimisation 444 00:36:51,05 --> 00:36:54,81 a few months ago after our first hotel training in downtown A detective told me 445 00:36:54,82 --> 00:36:58,80 that they have been able to that they've been having difficulty setting up sting 446 00:36:58,81 --> 00:37:04,50 operations downtown because the girls wouldn't come to hotels downtown we were so 447 00:37:04,51 --> 00:37:08,18 excited to hear that I don't know if that's because of our detectives doing 448 00:37:08,19 --> 00:37:11,67 incredible work or if it's because our hoteliers are now on the lookout in the word 449 00:37:11,68 --> 00:37:16,31 is out on the street that our hotels in downtown Seattle are not hospitable to 450 00:37:16,32 --> 00:37:21,83 traffic and. By working together we can prevent this crime and I hope that one day 451 00:37:21,84 --> 00:37:25,81 I will stop getting like the one that I got this morning about 452 00:37:25,82 --> 00:37:29,09 a young woman who has been trafficked desperately in need of 453 00:37:29,10 --> 00:37:35,80 a job thank you thank you Mark. I co-founded hops with the well Gomez two years ago 454 00:37:36,07 --> 00:37:40,80 I'll be two years in April we're very excited to be nearing that anniversary but 455 00:37:40,81 --> 00:37:44,63 I've been actively working on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation for close 456 00:37:44,64 --> 00:37:50,14 to twenty five years that. I got my start in Portland Oregon at the time I was 457 00:37:50,39 --> 00:37:54,31 working on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault and prostitution was 458 00:37:54,32 --> 00:37:59,83 entirely off my radar I was training man to go into middle schools and high schools 459 00:38:00,10 --> 00:38:05,50 in partnership with local women service providers to do work on the prevention of 460 00:38:05,51 --> 00:38:10,68 sexual assault and date rape dating violence and if you would have asked me about 461 00:38:10,69 --> 00:38:14,22 prostitution at the time I would have said you know what does that have to do with 462 00:38:14,23 --> 00:38:14,73 anything that's 463 00:38:14,74 --> 00:38:18,70 a victimless crime something somebody free is freely choosing to do with their body 464 00:38:18,71 --> 00:38:19,92 and who am I especially as 465 00:38:19,93 --> 00:38:23,19 a man to tell woman what she should or should not do with her body and that's about 466 00:38:23,61 --> 00:38:28,63 all I really thought about it but then I came across an extraordinary organization 467 00:38:28,67 --> 00:38:33,92 in Portland at the time called the Council for prostitution alternatives and it was 468 00:38:34,45 --> 00:38:39,25 extraordinary in that it was run by survivors and led by survivors and as I met 469 00:38:39,26 --> 00:38:44,39 these survivors and started hearing their stories. About what the life was like for 470 00:38:44,40 --> 00:38:48,93 them you know these were adult women but they had entered into the commercial sex 471 00:38:48,94 --> 00:38:53,46 and history when they were teenagers most of them had been physically emotionally 472 00:38:53,47 --> 00:38:58,50 and sexually abused that home run away from home to escape that abuse where they 473 00:38:58,51 --> 00:39:02,68 were really vulnerable to being exploited by parents who used physical emotional 474 00:39:02,69 --> 00:39:07,13 and sexual abuse to gain power and maintain control over them in systems that 475 00:39:07,14 --> 00:39:12,41 weren't dissimilar to what I understood as domestic violence while in the life they 476 00:39:12,42 --> 00:39:17,46 were abused by their johns they were raped they were assaulted they were kidnapped 477 00:39:17,47 --> 00:39:21,55 they were. Tortured they were mutilated permanently because of that torture I rates 478 00:39:21,56 --> 00:39:26,86 far beyond that for any other group of that I knew of and I really couldn't look at 479 00:39:26,87 --> 00:39:31,68 this as a victimless crime anymore I really started to understand it as 480 00:39:31,73 --> 00:39:36,96 a system of men's violence against women and children and just as I saw at that 481 00:39:37,00 --> 00:39:41,58 time that it was important for men to take leadership in engaging other man and to 482 00:39:41,59 --> 00:39:47,36 preventing sexual assault and domestic violence I extended that analysis and saw 483 00:39:47,37 --> 00:39:51,89 that it's Ben's responsibility to engage other men in the prevention of commercial 484 00:39:51,90 --> 00:39:58,74 sexual exploitation. Towards that 485 00:39:58,75 --> 00:40:04,21 end I started in one nine hundred ninety five the first buyers intervention sex 486 00:40:04,22 --> 00:40:07,73 buyers intervention program in the country down in Portland we start an 487 00:40:07,74 --> 00:40:14,60 organization called the sexual exploitation education project and. I started the 488 00:40:14,77 --> 00:40:21,45 the first john school and I still run the john school for the city of Seattle now 489 00:40:21,92 --> 00:40:28,92 and it's encouraging to me how far we've come on this issue I can remember 490 00:40:28,93 --> 00:40:33,09 walking into the police departments and their early one nine hundred ninety S. 491 00:40:33,10 --> 00:40:37,75 And walking into the judge's offices and trying to advocate for these women that I 492 00:40:37,76 --> 00:40:43,48 know who were hurt so bad and this is the looks they would give me and the doors 493 00:40:43,49 --> 00:40:50,33 they would show me. So it's really amazing to be 494 00:40:50,34 --> 00:40:53,84 here now and I think that what we're bringing here is truly 495 00:40:53,85 --> 00:40:57,82 a coordinated community response to this issue I'm so glad to have more here 496 00:40:57,83 --> 00:41:01,60 bringing businesses into it is just brilliant I mean it's enough to get service 497 00:41:01,61 --> 00:41:05,48 providers and the criminal justice system into the same room but then to get 498 00:41:05,49 --> 00:41:06,96 businesses is truly providing 499 00:41:06,97 --> 00:41:10,91 a coordinated community response to this issue and I think we really need to shift 500 00:41:10,92 --> 00:41:15,01 the focus now that we've recognized who the victims are to recognize who really has 501 00:41:15,02 --> 00:41:18,80 the power whether there are not they're going to choose to engage in this practice 502 00:41:18,81 --> 00:41:23,32 and that's the man who choose to buy sex so let's focus on them and thank you Peter 503 00:41:23,32 --> 00:41:30,21 . Prosecutor for thirteen of my fifteen years in the practice of law I've seen it 504 00:41:30,22 --> 00:41:35,83 all I thought I've seen it all but when the statement was made never got which 505 00:41:35,84 --> 00:41:40,18 young lady said it but she essentially said that the criminal justice system was in 506 00:41:40,19 --> 00:41:45,08 collusion with my hearing that right nearby here that they would all say that yes 507 00:41:45,54 --> 00:41:51,69 hello yes. That the criminal justice system was in collusion to further victimize 508 00:41:51,91 --> 00:41:57,54 these women and men as well I thought to myself as I said in that in the in the pew 509 00:41:57,55 --> 00:42:03,83 they're guilty as charged and so what I want to do for 510 00:42:03,84 --> 00:42:07,01 a few moments is talk to you about the evolution of this prosecutor who is sitting 511 00:42:07,02 --> 00:42:11,50 here in this chair talking to you so initially when I start as 512 00:42:11,51 --> 00:42:15,100 a prosecutor thing was black and white we receive the police reports from the 513 00:42:16,04 --> 00:42:21,41 police officers. Was the law OK we got the law did they commit the crime do the 514 00:42:21,42 --> 00:42:26,22 facts support it yup guilty as charged and we will move forward and for the first 515 00:42:26,23 --> 00:42:30,21 few years my practice I prosecuted hundreds if not thousands of cases in that way 516 00:42:31,22 --> 00:42:37,39 and then as I began to to mature in my practice in my my profession I started doing 517 00:42:37,40 --> 00:42:44,37 sessions with salt related crimes and my focus began to change and 518 00:42:44,38 --> 00:42:49,66 it changed from things being so black and white to understanding that what I do and 519 00:42:49,67 --> 00:42:55,38 what prosecutors do in law enforcement men and women do is essentially ministry. 520 00:42:56,79 --> 00:42:59,82 Hold on for all to offer a moment it's not necessarily 521 00:42:59,83 --> 00:43:02,14 a religious based ministry but it's still 522 00:43:02,15 --> 00:43:07,99 a ministry nonetheless because we have the opportunities to change lives because we 523 00:43:07,100 --> 00:43:11,94 come in contact with thousands of people each and every day unfortunately most 524 00:43:11,95 --> 00:43:15,76 often because tragic things have happened to them but we have the opportunity to 525 00:43:15,77 --> 00:43:20,86 change lives and so is with that viewpoint that I enter the job that I have now is 526 00:43:20,87 --> 00:43:24,03 the chief of the criminal division in the leadership of the city attorney Pete 527 00:43:24,04 --> 00:43:28,52 Holmes and there was one day when Pete called me to his office and he said that he 528 00:43:28,53 --> 00:43:35,46 wanted to change the way that we prosecute the crime of prostitution and 529 00:43:35,52 --> 00:43:39,17 initially I wasn't sure exactly what he was speaking of but he presented me with 530 00:43:39,18 --> 00:43:42,88 research and talk to me about some of the conversations he had had with Councilman 531 00:43:42,89 --> 00:43:47,24 Burgess and Terry Kimball at the time when she was working for the city and I began 532 00:43:47,25 --> 00:43:53,02 to understand it and then I thought this is another opportunity to engage in 533 00:43:53,03 --> 00:43:54,99 a ministry and it's 534 00:43:55,00 --> 00:44:00,88 a ministry to help these men and women. And not further victimize them. And not be 535 00:44:01,17 --> 00:44:03,82 a further part of the collusion of which I admit I was 536 00:44:03,83 --> 00:44:10,48 a part of and so to wrap it up when I was tasked with the the duty to look at how 537 00:44:10,49 --> 00:44:15,88 we prosecute prostitution related cases I neutrally to some research as to what are 538 00:44:15,89 --> 00:44:21,31 we doing in our office and what the Reacher research showed me was that if we 539 00:44:21,32 --> 00:44:28,12 prosecuted say one hundred cases of cases that are sexual type in nature sixty 540 00:44:28,13 --> 00:44:32,86 seventy percent of them were against the men and women who were charged with the 541 00:44:32,87 --> 00:44:38,72 crime of prostitution and so my boss told me that he wants to flip that and flip 542 00:44:38,73 --> 00:44:44,46 the number he wants us to stop going after these men and women who are engaged in 543 00:44:44,47 --> 00:44:50,87 the life who are victims of these crimes and focus our attention on the men 544 00:44:50,92 --> 00:44:56,09 primarily the men who are purchasing who are the sex buyers and that's what we've 545 00:44:56,10 --> 00:44:59,44 done and so I know that they'll be another more questions that will prompt more 546 00:44:59,44 --> 00:45:06,36 information to give but I simply wanted to confirm that yes I was guilty as 547 00:45:06,37 --> 00:45:11,88 charged but myself under the leadership of Pete Holmes the city attorney we have 548 00:45:11,89 --> 00:45:16,56 changed our perspective as prosecutors and we are here to help as 549 00:45:16,57 --> 00:45:19,39 a person as opposed to be continuing to be 550 00:45:19,40 --> 00:45:23,85 a part of the collusion Thank you Christine we are on 551 00:45:23,89 --> 00:45:29,16 a story and tell is that I've met many with survivors of prostitution over the 552 00:45:29,17 --> 00:45:32,99 years who have talked to me about a phenomenon that used to happen when they were 553 00:45:33,03 --> 00:45:36,36 a bachelor parties and that is they would go and get 554 00:45:36,37 --> 00:45:40,33 a call from The Best Man and they would go to the bachelor party they would get 555 00:45:40,34 --> 00:45:40,65 into 556 00:45:40,66 --> 00:45:46,79 a room with the groom and then the groom would say I don't want to do anything but 557 00:45:46,80 --> 00:45:53,72 don't tell those guys out there. And what I would say to this man in this room is 558 00:45:54,36 --> 00:46:01,25 tell the guys out there tell them this is not OK. To propose we 559 00:46:01,26 --> 00:46:07,55 do have to to enforce the law but yet find mercy and 560 00:46:07,56 --> 00:46:13,35 justice with that as well and so the balance that we've drawn is this there is 561 00:46:13,36 --> 00:46:19,52 a two pronged approach the first is for those individuals who are purchasing sex we 562 00:46:19,53 --> 00:46:26,00 have tightened our practice and protocol to how we deal with those cases no longer 563 00:46:26,01 --> 00:46:31,72 are the days where people can simply receive just probation and walk away so our 564 00:46:31,73 --> 00:46:33,94 recommendation is that we're making to the court are 565 00:46:33,95 --> 00:46:39,39 a lot more stricter is stronger than they have been in the past and when we deal 566 00:46:39,40 --> 00:46:43,09 with the women who are involved in this lifestyle there is 567 00:46:43,10 --> 00:46:49,93 a need for community for support of each other in community what I learned was that 568 00:46:50,21 --> 00:46:54,18 they even admitted that sometimes individuals like that need to be prosecuted 569 00:46:54,84 --> 00:46:59,08 because they may not seek help on the wrong so the name it may need the assistance 570 00:46:59,30 --> 00:47:03,66 of the criminal justice system to push them in that direction and so that's how 571 00:47:03,67 --> 00:47:09,31 we're balancing that we are doing our best to provide them assistance if we can and 572 00:47:09,32 --> 00:47:13,87 if not then we will move forward in some circumstances and prosecute but our aim in 573 00:47:13,88 --> 00:47:18,73 the prosecution is not meant to punish is simply meant to direct them in 574 00:47:18,74 --> 00:47:24,00 a way in which they can receive services and snow while Gomez and. I was 575 00:47:24,01 --> 00:47:26,43 domestically actually trafficked as 576 00:47:26,44 --> 00:47:33,32 a young person and. Unfortunately there was no resources no 577 00:47:33,33 --> 00:47:40,01 help nobody came looking for me nobody cared at that time. The 578 00:47:40,02 --> 00:47:46,86 police were the enemy and everybody was kind of out to 579 00:47:46,87 --> 00:47:53,19 get me including the johns my pimp and everybody else and. I end up staying in that 580 00:47:53,20 --> 00:47:58,28 life and being trapped in that life for fifteen years because I had no way to get 581 00:47:58,29 --> 00:48:04,76 out and I didn't know how to get out and I didn't have anybody. To help me and so. 582 00:48:06,87 --> 00:48:11,86 Anyway. When I started when me and Peter started 583 00:48:12,24 --> 00:48:15,00 a couple years ago we saw that there was 584 00:48:15,21 --> 00:48:20,68 a huge lack of services for what for girls once they turn eighteen. 585 00:48:22,06 --> 00:48:26,47 Because I've been doing that diversion class for the city of Seattle I work with 586 00:48:26,51 --> 00:48:31,47 women who are eighteen and over who come to the class and they were all saying to 587 00:48:31,48 --> 00:48:37,87 me where do we go forward. How do we get help we want help you know about and. 588 00:48:39,03 --> 00:48:42,92 I had no answer for them you know except for to give them my personal cell phone 589 00:48:42,93 --> 00:48:49,20 number and say call me you know I'll try to be there for you you know and. So I 590 00:48:49,21 --> 00:48:53,89 talked to Peter about that and we decided to start the organization for 591 00:48:53,90 --> 00:49:00,78 prostitution survivors. And with the help of Solon youth because Dillon 592 00:49:00,79 --> 00:49:07,44 youth does understand and encompasses the whole issue we've been able to do start 593 00:49:07,45 --> 00:49:13,93 doing support groups and workshops and different things with women in the community 594 00:49:14,57 --> 00:49:21,28 for the last couple years to. Right now we have the capacity to serve 595 00:49:21,29 --> 00:49:26,30 about thirty five to fifty young women and women 596 00:49:26,99 --> 00:49:29,61 a year and we need to be up to 597 00:49:29,62 --> 00:49:35,70 a capacity capacity of serving in the hundreds. There's hundreds of women in 598 00:49:35,71 --> 00:49:42,47 Seattle who need our services and. We need to grow. 599 00:49:44,64 --> 00:49:49,83 So that's what is really important and I think that. 600 00:49:51,75 --> 00:49:57,46 A lot of people think that eighteen is some kind of magic number like these girls 601 00:49:57,47 --> 00:50:02,37 turn eighteen and then suddenly they don't matter anymore. You know it's like oh 602 00:50:02,42 --> 00:50:08,70 she's eighteen and she's on drugs her choice well guess what she probably 603 00:50:09,32 --> 00:50:14,08 wasn't eighteen when she started and she probably wasn't on drugs when she started 604 00:50:14,08 --> 00:50:18,57 . People have to self medicate when they're being abused and tortured on 605 00:50:18,58 --> 00:50:25,29 a daily basis it's the only way to survive. So I really 606 00:50:25,98 --> 00:50:32,25 would like to bring to everybody's attention the fact that you know 607 00:50:32,50 --> 00:50:38,98 sixteen year olds turn eighteen you know they do and we need to be there to help 608 00:50:38,99 --> 00:50:45,95 them. Somebody needs to be there to help them and so that's what we're trying 609 00:50:45,96 --> 00:50:47,65 to do and it's 610 00:50:47,66 --> 00:50:53,01 a lot of hard work and we're pushing but with the community's help things that have 611 00:50:53,02 --> 00:50:53,36 changed 612 00:50:53,37 --> 00:50:58,82 a lot and I think you know some funny and problems will stop soon but. I was at 613 00:50:58,83 --> 00:51:01,67 a meeting and you know the fact that I'm 614 00:51:01,68 --> 00:51:07,25 a survivor and that I was in the sex industry for so long you know that gives other 615 00:51:07,26 --> 00:51:11,99 survivors hope you know when they get when they see that people are paying 616 00:51:12,00 --> 00:51:16,26 attention to me people are listening to me I was out and meeting where I was 617 00:51:16,27 --> 00:51:21,69 sitting in between Brian Taylor a police officer and Valerie Ritchie 618 00:51:21,70 --> 00:51:27,71 a prosecutor and I was like suddenly hit me and I was like I'm sitting between two 619 00:51:27,72 --> 00:51:32,91 people that I used to be terrified of I mean not them personally but you know like 620 00:51:33,30 --> 00:51:35,01 just like what I did this is 621 00:51:35,02 --> 00:51:41,96 a weird you know like I never thought that I would. Now there are my friends 622 00:51:41,97 --> 00:51:48,93 I like. You. Know we are making progress. We are 623 00:51:48,94 --> 00:51:52,35 making progress in this city and I'm in I'm very glad to be here in Seattle in this 624 00:51:52,36 --> 00:51:54,76 movement and I just want to say give 625 00:51:54,77 --> 00:51:59,86 a shout out to our survivors that are here you guys are awesome we need you and 626 00:51:59,87 --> 00:52:06,61 LOVE YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MY VERY bad 627 00:52:06,62 --> 00:52:11,93 organization and I believe that survivors need to be working with other survivors 628 00:52:12,29 --> 00:52:18,19 and even as are awesome and I love you in Thank You to all of our allies to the 629 00:52:18,23 --> 00:52:24,50 love our survivors OK. My name's Elisa and I'm 630 00:52:24,51 --> 00:52:31,07 a survivor of prostitution when I was young I wanted to be many things. An 631 00:52:31,08 --> 00:52:32,59 astronaut one day or 632 00:52:32,92 --> 00:52:39,06 a veterinarian the next day depending upon when you ask me. However I never said I 633 00:52:39,07 --> 00:52:40,12 wanted to be 634 00:52:40,13 --> 00:52:45,81 a prostitute between the times I was dreaming astronaut dreams and the time I enter 635 00:52:45,82 --> 00:52:52,65 prostitution I was sexually abused physically abused cutting myself sexually 636 00:52:52,66 --> 00:52:59,04 acting out and in relationships with men that were violent and manipulative my 637 00:52:59,05 --> 00:53:02,16 trauma had utterly taken over my life I grew up in 638 00:53:02,17 --> 00:53:06,64 a society where girls are considered worth less than their male peers and boys are 639 00:53:06,65 --> 00:53:11,60 taught that their needs a female suffering prostitution is not 640 00:53:11,61 --> 00:53:13,69 a choice instead it is 641 00:53:13,70 --> 00:53:18,46 a result of the path I and others have been forced down we are examples of what 642 00:53:18,47 --> 00:53:20,22 happens when women are raised in 643 00:53:20,23 --> 00:53:26,33 a society that glorifies systemic sexual violence by men by simply being born 644 00:53:26,34 --> 00:53:32,32 a female I was automatically more vulnerable to sexual violence some may say I 645 00:53:32,33 --> 00:53:37,91 should have known better like Noel said when I entered prostitution at age eighteen 646 00:53:38,75 --> 00:53:43,86 I was after all technically an adult however nine out of putting ten prostitutes 647 00:53:43,87 --> 00:53:49,07 are sexually abused as children and the vast majority of those abusers are men the 648 00:53:49,08 --> 00:53:53,29 trauma that statistic indicates is an any different whether someone enters the life 649 00:53:53,33 --> 00:53:59,81 at thirteen eighteen or thirty it doesn't go away. I was born into 650 00:53:59,82 --> 00:54:02,06 a loving upper middle class family in 651 00:54:02,07 --> 00:54:05,97 a well to do neighborhood with all the support I could ever wish for with two 652 00:54:05,98 --> 00:54:11,52 stable parents who never abused me and who nurtured me as best they could if this 653 00:54:11,53 --> 00:54:17,42 going to happen to me it can happen to any girl all women are vulnerable to sexual 654 00:54:17,43 --> 00:54:24,01 violence. I exited online prostitution at age twenty at which point I was bought by 655 00:54:24,02 --> 00:54:24,54 John for 656 00:54:24,55 --> 00:54:29,75 a two year owner slave type contract it's been eight years since I've been fully 657 00:54:29,76 --> 00:54:34,95 out of the life and I still feel the effects of prostitution related trauma every 658 00:54:35,05 --> 00:54:39,56 day to give you a nice idea of scale the P.T.S.D. 659 00:54:39,57 --> 00:54:44,96 Exhibited in prostitutes is comparable to comparable to that of war veterans and we 660 00:54:44,97 --> 00:54:50,84 all know how about that is up until recently I suffered vivid nightmares flashbacks 661 00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:56,53 was unable to distinguish good and bad relationships my concepts of love sex and 662 00:54:56,54 --> 00:55:02,39 money were completely entangled and my self-esteem was borderline suicidal it took 663 00:55:02,39 --> 00:55:07,03 another person pointing out physical manifestations of my trauma before I could 664 00:55:07,41 --> 00:55:14,26 convince myself that I deserved help I eventually found office and 665 00:55:14,27 --> 00:55:18,67 began attending the weekly support group I was amazed by how much it helped me move 666 00:55:18,68 --> 00:55:24,17 forward as I told my story I found I was reassured at sealing the silent nods from 667 00:55:24,18 --> 00:55:29,94 my fellow group members it made me realize I was not alone it was like I could 668 00:55:29,95 --> 00:55:34,79 finally be my real self like I took off my mask and like I didn't have to hide. 669 00:55:36,55 --> 00:55:41,83 That was last summer and now I'm standing here. Since then I've been bald. 670 00:55:43,61 --> 00:55:47,91 All right so that was last summer since then I've been volunteering for ops and 671 00:55:47,92 --> 00:55:52,56 eventually joined their board I work right alongside other survivors and allies and 672 00:55:52,57 --> 00:55:56,71 even help some newcomers with their journey out of the life doing this work has 673 00:55:56,72 --> 00:56:01,14 helped me to identify positive relationships and in helping other survivors I've 674 00:56:01,15 --> 00:56:04,83 helped myself I can actually sleep through the night that's 675 00:56:04,84 --> 00:56:11,46 a really big deal my fiance. And I see myself as equal to instead of less 676 00:56:12,02 --> 00:56:17,03 services for both youth and adults are needed if help is available and if women and 677 00:56:17,04 --> 00:56:22,32 girls have access to it they will use it and they will get out of prostitution 678 00:56:22,87 --> 00:56:25,23 still in youth support organizations the take 679 00:56:25,24 --> 00:56:30,63 a holistic approach to counteracting sexual violence against women ops is just such 680 00:56:30,64 --> 00:56:35,66 an organization we encompass survivor services men's accountability. 681 00:56:37,67 --> 00:56:42,26 And community education with these three focus areas we help women and girls 682 00:56:42,27 --> 00:56:47,55 currently in need show men that systemic sexual violence is harmful to all members 683 00:56:47,56 --> 00:56:51,76 of society and educate service providers and identifying and working with this 684 00:56:51,77 --> 00:56:55,87 population. Only with this type of holistic approach do we have 685 00:56:55,88 --> 00:57:00,47 a chance at altering these societal norms that are outdated at best of times and 686 00:57:00,48 --> 00:57:07,20 downright harmful at the worst of times. If even after this utterly amazing night 687 00:57:07,21 --> 00:57:08,85 of discussion and the coming Q. 688 00:57:08,86 --> 00:57:13,22 And A you still ask yourself why should I care about something that doesn't affect 689 00:57:13,23 --> 00:57:18,83 me I will tell you right now you should care because girls do not deserve to grow 690 00:57:18,84 --> 00:57:19,02 up in 691 00:57:19,03 --> 00:57:25,07 a society where all women can be victimized and it does affect you because whether 692 00:57:25,08 --> 00:57:26,17 you are a woman or 693 00:57:26,18 --> 00:57:31,92 a man you live in this society too and with this issue there is no such thing as an 694 00:57:31,93 --> 00:57:33,82 innocent bystander Thank you.